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Israel Struggles to Stop Weapons Smuggling at Sea

(AP) Israel's navy is casting its net wider and deeper in an effort to stop Gaza militants from receiving weapons by sea, a difficult mission made harder, Israel says, by political turmoil in Egypt that has hurt Israeli intelligence collection and left the Gaza border far more porous, and by the Egyptian decision to fully reopen its border crossing with Gaza. David Benjamin, a former high-ranking officer in the military's legal department, said maritime law entitles Israel to search any merchant vessel it believes is carrying contraband to support its enemies. "The basis is that Israel is in an armed conflict with Hamas. Once you are in an armed conflict, it creates a legal framework in which you can operate," he said. Scott L. Silliman, a military law expert at Duke University, noted that the situation is complicated because Hamas is an armed group, and not a sovereign state. "That issue is quite similar to the state of armed conflict which the United States claims exists between itself and al-Qaeda," he said. "I believe the consensus now is that an armed conflict can exist under these conditions."
2011-05-27 00:00:00
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